24 February
Lions tickets now on sale
70 000 tickets for matches in the Castle South Africa 2009 British and Irish Lions went on sale on Monday, February 23. The tickets are part of the second phase of sales for the eagerly-anticipated series and are available for seven of the ten matches in the series.
Season ticket and suite ticket holders were rewarded for their loyalty by being given preference in first-phase sales, which opened last year. Their uptake of tickets plus commitments to other rugby stakeholders means that only a limited number of Test tickets are available for the three-match series.
Approximately 30 000 tickets for the match against a Coastal XV in Port Elizabeth on June 16 will go on sale shortly once the seating configuration of the new Nelson Bay Mandela Stadium has been confirmed. Further tickets are expected to become available as deadlines expire for the uptake of first-phase tickets by stakeholders.
Tickets on sale from 9am on Monday will be for:
Saturday, May 30 Highveld XV v British & Irish Lions Rustenburg R 170
Wednesday, June 3 Xerox Lions v British & Irish Lions Johannesburg R 230
Saturday, June 6 Vodacom Cheetahs v British & Irish Lions Bloemfontein R 285
Wednesday, June 10 Sharks v British & Irish Lions Durban R 230
Saturday, June 13 Vodacom WP v British & Irish Lions Cape Town R 285
Tuesday, June 23 Emerging Springboks v British & Irish Lions Cape Town R 230
Saturday, July 4 3rd Test: Springboks v British & Irish Lions Johannesburg R1 140
“There are 2 500 Test match tickets available at R1 140 for the third Test at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg but such is the demand at the smaller Absa Stadium and Loftus Versfeld that there are only hospitality packages available,” said Andre Homan, SA Rugby’s project manager for the Castle South Africa 2009 Lions Series.
“There are normally only a very small number of Test tickets available for any big Test in South Africa but our ability to satisfy the huge local demand is affected by the requirements and responsibilities we have to the Lions.
“We expect 50 000 British and Irish visitors for the series – for which the Lions receive only 11 000 tickets per Test – which obviously has a significant impact on our ability to satisfy the local demand.”
Supporters eager to see one or all of the Tests still have the option of hospitality packages, which include additional benefits such as parking, VIP hospitality as well as the match ticket.
“If we ever doubted the uniqueness of a tour by the British & Irish Lions it has been driven home to us over the past few months,” said Andy Marinos, acting managing director of SA Rugby. “The demand from our stakeholders has been enormous – everyone realises we’re not just talking about an 80-minute rugby match but about a lifetime of memories. We could have sold many of the games twice over.”
Homan explained how the ticket allocation works for the Test matches: “On average the three stadiums have 27 000 season and suite ticket holders who we have obviously been keen to reward for their support of rugby with the first option,” he said.
“On top of that the Lions receive their 11 000 allocation, SA Rugby receives 6 000 to satisfy our sponsors and stakeholders, another 4 000 are set aside for hospitality and another 2 000 are available for other members of the rugby family such as members of previously disadvantaged communities.
“Those requirements come to 50 000 per Test and it is only the fact that the Lions have a smaller allocation for the non-test matches that means there are some tickets available for the provincial matches.”
Homan stressed that general sales would only be available from Monday at 9am from Computicket. Further details on ticket sales are available from www.computicket.com and www.sarugby.co.za/lionstour.
Source: sarugby.co.za
